Back to the Roots
by Thalion Estel
Summary: After the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot regrows and has to decide what to do next. Could a trip to Arda be a good course of action, perhaps? A silly sequel to "The Importance of Introduction".


**Disclaimer: I own neither Guardians of the Galaxy nor The Lord of the Rings.**

 **Author's Note: This is a little sequel written for** _ **The Importance of Introduction**_ **at the request of Lady Jamboreemon. This came from both her request and her outlines for the prompt. I hope you all enjoy this silliness! Please review!**

Dedicated to Lady Jamboreemon.

 **. . .**

Rocket the raccoon took a sapling—a part of his friend—from the debris-ridden ground of Xandar as he and his fellows departed, planting it in hopes that it would grow his companion again. The sapling did indeed thrive and grow, and the Guardians were all thrilled with the success, but somehow it slipped their minds that there were hundreds of other saplings still strewn all over the field on Xandar.

One of these saplings took to the dirt and grew into another Groot with all the speed it could muster. After all, why only have one Groot at a time if you could have two? When Groot at last became as he had been before the crash, he knew he would have to decide what to do since his other self was already with Rocket.

"I am Groot," he said to himself.

"I am Groot," his good sense countered.

"I am Groot," he maintained, not really wanting to admit the truth to himself.

"I am Groot," his instincts insisted.

"I am Groot," he finally yielded, wondering if this was really a wise plan. But nothing could be done about it, and the logic of the argument was undeniable.

Groot walked into the nearest settlement and immediately located a library. There he set about a plan which he named _I am Groot_ because he could name it nothing else.

For nearly two weeks, Groot poured over the information that the library contained about his species. He learned that he was what some called an "Ent", and that these creatures had once inhabited a distant planet called Arda. Unable to recall memories of his past, Groot found that he desired to find out more about this Arda place, and he read every single archive with notes on Ents.

Apparently Ents had their own language, and although Groot was sharp of mind, his pronunciation was a bit lacking. It turned out that after saying only "I am Groot" for years upon years, he had nearly lost the ability to say anything else. But Groot was not one to give up, and so after booking a trip to Arda, he purchased a volume on Entish and studied it diligently as he flew through the galaxy to the place he had (apparently) once called home.

Arda was indeed a very strange place, and Groot was at a loss as to what he was supposed to do here. There were forests, fields, and mountains all around him, and since he figured he would best belong with trees (even though he was certainly _not_ a tree), he headed into the dark woods, still thumbing through his book. With his eyes down, he did not see the other person ahead of him until he had crashed into them.

"I am Groot," he apologized before face-palming and giving the sentence another try. "I am Groo—sorry."

Looking up, Groot was surprised to find that instead of the other person being some sort of alien, it was a being bearing remarkable similarity to himself. In fact, Groot believed that he was standing before what his research had called an "Entwife".

"Watch where you're going," the Entwife snapped before realizing that she, too, stood before someone with whom she ought to be friends. Their eyes met, and both were bitten by love bugs simultaneously.

There was no going back.

Groot and his Entwife decided to establish a new Ent colony on the edge of the forest, her gardening, and Groot tree-shepherding. Groot, after being in a familiar place for a few weeks, began to remember why he had begun his "I am Groot" habit, and as his Entish language skills improved, he decided that there needed to be better awareness in regards to stereotypes surrounding Ents.

Groot and his Entwife launched an organization known formally as _Back to the Roots_ , a group which stood up for the rights of Ents and helped maintain their culture in a world where progress swept away most old traditions. No longer would Ents have to tolerate being called "trees", and no more would they be driven to using one three-letter sentence to avoid this insult.

Ents and Entwives from all over Arda began flocking to the colony that Groot had established, and as Groot's Entwife gave birth to the first Enting to come into Arda in several ages, Groot felt he had at last amended the tragedy that the two presumptuous Hobbits had caused.

"We are more than trees," he told his Entwife with a grin. "We are Groot."

 **. . .**

 **I hope you enjoyed it! The idea about all the Groot saplings being on Xandar came from the Youtube channel called** _ **How It Should Have Ended**_ **, which is hysterical. Be sure to leave me a review to let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading!**


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